Rendering shows the
project that is expected to reduce the unloading and loading time for
container ships from as much as five days to a single day.

APM
Terminals rendering

Moín port project gets a green light from court

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Government officials are applauding the decision by a court not to
delay the Caribbean container terminal project.

The decision came from the Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo,
which officials said gives a green light to the $1 billion project. The
central government also ready has designated the Dutch firm APM
Terminals, as the concession holder for the project. The firm will
build a state-of-the-art terminal which will compete with the
government- owned docks that are considered highly inefficient. Casa
Presidencial has said the project would bring 2,000 jobs to the
poverty-ridden Caribbean coast.

The project is considered the key development to bring progress to the
province of Limón.

However, in Costa Rica there always is another t to be crossed or an i
to be dotted, so projects frequently are delayed or halted by the
tribunal. Its role is to make sure that the government has followed its
own rules.

In this case, the port project at Moín was challenged by the
Cámara Nacional de Bananeros, which sought to delay the project
because of alleged lack of financial and technical studies.

Francisco Jiménez Reyes, who is president of the Consejo
Nacional de Concesiones as well as minister of Obras Públicas y
Trasnportes, said that the concession agreement has gone the correct
route and has been approved by the Contraloría General de la
República, the budget watchdog agency. He said the project would
make Costa Rica more competitive. About 75 percent of the country's
exports go through the Caribbean port.

Allan Hidalgo said that the new dock would bring

benefits to the
region. He is president of the Junta de Administración
Portuaria y de
Desarrollo Económico de la Vertiente Atlántica, which
runs the current
docks. He said that the money raised from the port project would be
converted into schools. high schools, roads and cultural projects.

APM Terminals operates an integrated global network of ports, terminals
and inland services. This network has 53 ports in 32 countries, 121
inland facilities in 48 countries, with a total of 22,000 employees in
62 countries, the company said when it received the concession March 1.

The terminal will undergo phased expansion in accordance with
provisions of the concession agreement. Upon the completion of the
final phase, the terminal will have an area of 80 hectares, with 1,500
meters of pier, five berths, a 2.2-kilometer (1.4-mile) breakwater and
an
access channel 18 meters (59 feet) deep.

The company added that the dredging will permit the entry of larger
ships with greater container capacity, creating economies of scale and
that construction of the breakwater will counteract weather conditions
that prevent normal functioning at the port of Moín and enable
the
terminal to operate 365 days a year.

Casa Presidencial said that the waiting time for ships to be loaded or
unloaded would be reduced from sometimes five days to a day. The
government said that the premises envisioned by the company would be
one and a half times the size of Parque La Sabana.

Despite the upbeat response from public officials, more litigation is
likely, including some kind of action by the current dockworkers union,
which opposes the concession because its leaders believe it will reduce
or eliminate the public docks.

A.M.
Costa Rica's professional directory
is where business
people who wish to reach the English-speaking community may invite
responses.
If you are interested in being represented here, please contact the editor.

James
Brohl, C.P.A. & M.B.A.US
Income
Tax, US GAAP Accounting
& Business Consulting

•
US
Tax return preparation for
individuals and businesses
• eFile returns: secure with faster refunds
• Assist with back reporting and other filing issues
• Take advantage of the Foreign
Income Tax Exclusion (up to $91,500 in 2010}
• Business Consulting to facilitate working in Costa Rica
• Accounting for US and International Financial Reporting

If I Can
Learn To Speak Spanish, Anybody Can!It is very important that as residents of Costa
Rica, we at

James
DeRoypresident, Epifania

least learn to
speak basic Spanish. We at Epifania Spanish School want to help
you. Our teachers are all courteous professionals and all want to
help you.

Conveniently located in Escazú and Curridabat, the program
for residents consists of two hours per day, two days
per week for $200 per month. Maximum class size is five persons,
minimum of 2 persons.

Visit our
Web site at www.epifaniaschool.com
and click on Residents Program or call us at 2524-1726 for complete
details.

Real
estate agents and services

Jeff Fisher, 17-year CR resident & Owner-Broker of CR Beach
Investment Real Estate is now
celebrating 5 yearshelping clients like you find their dream
properties in the New Jaco-Central Pacific area. Jeff, Colin, Frances
& Junior have lived in Costa Rica for more than 89 years &
we'll show you why this could be the best area for you to
invest-retire-enjoy.

"We gladly
pay for referrals!"

Member of the
N.A.R.,
the Costa Rican Real Estate Board CRGAR and the Central Pacific
Chamber of Commerce.www.CRbeach.cominfo@crbeach.com
Toll Free: 1-888-782-1119
Office: 2643-4334, 2643-3672
Located in the heart of Jacó. IL Galeone Center, Local 14,
Jacó, Costa Rica

Rica,
and use state-of-the-art cosmetic dentistry procedures that can give
you a beautiful and natural-looking smile in 11-days at a fraction of
the cost of what you will pay in other countries. Please, call us at +1
(888) 663-9764 or request a call from one of our dental
advisers. 6430-5/11/11

over
12,000 dental implants since 1980. The Dr. Marco Muñoz Cavallini
Dental Clinic, is recognized as one of the best practices in Dental
Reconstruction, Dental Implant placement and Cosmetic Dentistry in
Costa Rica and the World. For more information, visit us today at: aestheticdentistrycr.com

6094-xxxxx

Hearing consultant

Allan
Weinberg
your American hearing consultant

Now
offering the smaller, better and less expensive hearing aid
from Widex, their best ever.

We offer the highest professional
standards with very competitive rates. All our official documentation
and Notary deeds are always translated in English for better
comprehension, client satisfaction and safety.

Moonstruck bird does not know whether to fly or sleep
as
the moon makes an afternoon appearance last week. Rescue and police agencies
urging holiday precautions

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Police, fire officials and rescue agencies are united in encouraging
vacationers to be safe over the Semana Santa holiday which began for
some this weekend.

Although fires were down 8 percent during the Holy Week last year,
there were some unusual increases, according to the Cuerpo de Bomberos.

Calls to the leakage of petroleum gas increased from 38 to 54 and
rescues involving bee attacks went from an average of 202 to 223, said
Bomberos. The fire department also urged those who use gas for cooking
to perform safety checks on the connections and the cylinders. And it
urged the obvious precaution of staying away from feral bee colonies.

Fire officials also said that holy week is a time for brush fires with
more than 500 usually reported during the week.

In 2010 the department registered 1,156 calls during Semana Santa. Of
these 660 were actual fires.

The Cruz Roja said last week that it handled five traffic deaths of the
23 deaths reported during the week.

The agency and the Policía de Tránsito spent Friday
afternoon handing out explanatory literature to vacationers leaving the
Central Valley.

Meanwhile, the Consejo Nacional de Vialidad, the highway agency, said
that toll collections will be suspended on the autopistas at noon
Thursday until 6 a.m. Saturday. The purpose is to increase the traffic
flow for vacationers leaving the central city.

The Cruz Roja ambulances and rescue units converged at 6:30 p.m. at
Parque Central where they sounded their sirens for a full minute as a
reminder for holiday precautions.

Local and long-distance bus service is expected to stop at noon
Thursday to resume at normal hours Saturday morning. Both Thursday and
Friday are legal holidays.

Plans presented to four lane
San Carlos highway

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

The transport ministry has presented a new proposal that would expand
the San Carlos highway from two to four lanes.

The Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes said it wanted to
correct problems with the original design of the highway.

The changes are presented to the Contraloría General de la
República, which is the budget watchdog.

Among the changes will be a connection of the new highway to the
Bernardo Soto highway. The roadway is expected to cut in half the time
of traveling from San José to San Carlos, which is the gateway
to the northern zone.

The new road is expected to boot tourism to La Fortuna, the town near
the Volcán Arenal. The ministry also said that 50 percent of
the milk and 60 percent of the pineapple crop travel between the two
points.

The ministry is planning to do the work with a $140 million allocated
from the Asamblea Legislativa. The entire project, which is about 40
percent completed, has a price tag of $205 million.

The ministry said it was expecting a quick approval to the updates by
the Contraloría.

Find out what the papers
said today in Spanish

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

Here is the section where you can scan short summaries from the
Spanish-language press. If you want to know more, just click on a link
and you will see and longer summary and have the opportunity to read
the entire news story on the page of the Spanish-language newspaper but
translated into English.

Translations may be a bit rough, but software is improving every day.

When you see the Summary in English of news stories not covered today
by A.M. Costa Rica, you will have a chance to comment.

This is a new service of A.M. Costa Rica called Costa Rica Report.
Editor is Daniel Woodall, and you can contact him HERE!

From
the Costa Rican pressNews items posted Monday through Friday by 8 a.m.Click a story for the summary

The
contents of
this page and this Web site are
copyrighted by
Consultantes Río Colorado 2011 and
may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use
are
permitted. Check HERE
for details

A 46-year-old Tres Ríos man and a 22-year-old woman from Moravia
have been detained on the allegation that they forced underage women
into prostitution.

The pair were detained in separate arrests Friday.

The Judicial Investigating Organization said that they recruited
underage girls with the promise of modeling careers. In one case, the
pair went to the home of one 16 year old and discussed the job
opportunity with parents. Then they took the woman to a purported job
interview where she was raped at gunpoint by the man and then told she
had to return to the location in Guadalupe to service other men or be
murdered, investigators alleged.

A 17-year-old high school student in Coronado was given the same
treatment after she met the pair when she left classes, the agency said.

Agents said they have uncovered five additional cases with the same
method of operation.

Agents said that the man, identified by the last names of Quesada
Cubillo is a cost accountant by trade. He lived in a luxury home
in Tres Ríos and that it appeared that the woman's sole
relationship was to recruit victims. She was identified by the last
names of Mondragón Granados.

Agents said that they confiscated two luxury vehicles, various portable
computers, weapons and other evidence.

The arrests follow by two days a similar arrest of a 61-year-old
central Pacific man, who has been detained on allegations that he was
luring foreign women to Costa Rica and forcing them into prostitution.

Judicial Investigating Organization
photo

Agents escort Tres Río man on way to interrogation

The arrest took place Wednesday night when judicial agents raided and
searched a location in Palmar Norte in the province of Puntarenas.
Agents said they confiscated evidence including clothing.

The raid also confirmed the existence of 12 foreign women, including
Nicaraguans, Panamanians, Colombians and Dominicans.

Agents said that
the women were offered at a night club in the same community, but it
was unclear if that is where the raid took place.

There were many more police
officers than persons to stop and question about 10:30 p.m. Friday.

A.M. Costa Rica photo

Police put on a show of force in the heart of the tourism

By the A.M. Costa Rica staff

For years the standard joke about downtown San José is that the
police vanish with the setting sun.

That may not be totally accurate, but the intersection of Avenida 1 and
Calle 9 did not usually have the police presence that provided the
security North American tourists needed. The intersection is the center
of nocturnal activity in San José and has three casinos, five
bars and a dance club within a half block.

There was no shortage of police Friday night. They were there by the
carload to conduct what they call an operation on the sidewalks. This
is where tourists are confronted by

individuals purported selling
cigars. But some sell much stronger products, and there always is the
threat of a street crime.

All the police were Fuerza Pública, and they slowed
traffic down and questioned and searched passersby.

The notorious street venders had vanished.

It did not appear that police entered any of the establishments or did
they seem interested in persons leaving them.

A full account of the weekend activities probably will be announced
today.

The
contents of
this page and this Web site are
copyrighted by
Consultantes Río Colorado 2011 and
may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use
are
permitted. Check HERE
for details

The three largest poker operations frozen Friday by the U.S. federal
government wasted little time in getting back into business. The online
operations are all offshore and all three have returned with .eu domain
names.

The Costa Rican operation involved is Absolute Poker, based in Plaza
Mayor, Rohrmoser. The primary Web site is now Absolutepoker.co.eu. The
online gambling business is operated by Blanca Games Inc., which says
it is incorporated in Antigua and Barbuda. Blanca says it is
licensed by the gaming commission of the Mohawk Territory of
Kahnawake in Quebec, Canada.

The two other firms are Full Tilt
Poker, licensed by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission in the
Channel Islands and PokerStars, based in the Isle of Man.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhatten, New York, announced the
unsealing of indictments Friday charging 11 defendants, including the
founders of the three poker companies with bank fraud, money
laundering, and illegal gambling offenses. The United States also filed
a civil money laundering and forfeiture complaint against the
companies, their assets, and the assets of several payment processors.
In addition, restraining orders were issued against more than 75 bank
accounts used by the poker companies and their payment processors, and
five .com Internet domain names used by the companies to host their
games were seized, the U.S. Attorney's Office said.

Scott Tom and Brent Beckley, both 31 and founders of Absolute Poker,
were two of the 11 person indicted in the same action. Two other
persons with Costa Rican ties, Bradley Franzen, 41, and Ira Rubin, 52,
also were indicted. All are U.S. citizens. Federal authorities
described Franzen and Rubin as highly compensated payment processors
who helped the poker companies get around money transfer prohibitions
in a 2006 U.S. law.

“These defendants, knowing full well that their business with U.S.
customers and U.S. banks was illegal, tried to stack the deck," said
Janice K. Fedarcyk, assistant director in charge for the Federal Bureau
of Investigation, in a release. "They lied to banks about the true
nature of their business. Then, some of the defendants found banks
willing to flout the law for a fee. The defendants bet the house that
they could continue their scheme, and they lost."

The federal government was able to take over the domain names of the
companies because the .com designations are administered in the United
States

Full Tilt posted a message on its .eu Web site saying that it is
"unable to accept 'real money' play from U.S. players; however, we
continue to conduct business as usual in the rest of the world. Please
be assured that your funds remain safe and secure."

The federal government posted a notice on the Absolute Poker site
saying that the domain name had been seized by the FBI.

Federal message on former Absolute Poker
Web site.

The Sidney, Australia, Morning Herald said the indictments were the
result of inside information given by Daniel Tzvetkoff, who was
arrested when he visited the United States a year ago. The newspaper
said that the poker operators tipped FBI agents to Tzvetkoff's
whereabouts because they had been feuding with his handling of their
funds. Tzvetkoff, in turn, told federal agents all that he knew about
the elaborate routes money was taking to get from the United States to
the poker companies, the newspaper said.

Only three of the indicted individuals have been arrested. Eight were
reported to be outside the United States. Frantzen was expected to
appear in U.S. court in New York Tuesday.

Among those arrested is John Campos, vice chairman and part owner of
SunFirst Bank in Saint George, Utah. Federal officials said that he
processed payments for the poker sites in exchange for a $10 million
investment in the struggling bank. He was arrested in his hometown. In
Las Vegas, Nevada, FBI agents detained Chad Elie, who is accused of
setting up the SunFirst deal for the poker firms. He, like Rubin, was
identified as a funds processor.

Money received from U.S. gamblers was disguised as payments to hundreds
of non-existent online merchants purporting to sell merchandise such as
jewelry and golf balls, federal officials said. Of the billions of
dollars in payment transactions that the poker companies tricked U.S.
banks into processing, approximately one-third or more of the
funds went directly to the poker companies as revenue through the rake
charged to players on almost every poker hand played online, the
officials said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said
it is working with foreign law enforcement agencies and Interpol to
secure the arrest of the other defendants and the seizure of criminal
proceeds located abroad.

Also indicted were those associated with the poker firms located
elsewhere: Isai Scheinberg, a Canadian and Israeli citizen whose
address was listed as the Isle of Man; Raymond Bitar, who lives in
California and Ireland; Nelson Burtnick, a Canadian; Paul Tate,
resident of the Isle of Man, and Ryan Lang, a Canadian.

Most of the charges stem from the Unlawful Internet Gambling
Enforcement Act that makes it a federal crime for gambling businesses
to knowingly accept most forms of payment in connection with the
participation of another person in unlawful Internet gambling.

Federal officials might have difficulty in extraditing Tom,
Beckley
and Rubin if they still are in Costa Rica. This country only accepts
extradition requests if the activities alleged represent crimes here.
Online gambling is legal here. In addition Costa Rica does not
extradite Costa Rican citizens, and one or more of the suspects may
have acquired dual citizenship.

The
contents of
this page and this Web site are
copyrighted by
Consultantes Río Colorado 2011 and
may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use
are
permitted. Check HERE
for details

The Mexican navy says it has captured the suspected leader of the Zetas
drug cartel believed to be the mastermind behind the killings
discovered recently in a group of mass graves in northeastern Mexico.

The navy said Saturday it has taken Martin Omar Estrada Luna into
custody in San Fernando in Tamaulipas state where the remains of at
least 145 people were found in graves last week. Five other people were
arrested with him.

Mexican officials say Estrada Luna, also known as "El Kilo," is also
believed to be involved in the massacre of 72 Central American migrants
found shot to death last year in San Fernando. The victims died
because they were not prepared to serve as drug mules for the gang.

The Zetas began as a Mexican military unit that defected and began
working with the Gulf cartel, based in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, just
across the border from the U.S. city of El Paso, Texas. The Zetas split
from the Gulf cartel last year. The two groups are now fierce
rivals.

Raúl Castro proposes
term limits in Cuba

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

Cuban President Raúl Castro has proposed term limits for Cuban
politicians serving on the island nation that has been ruled for 52
years by him and his brother, Fidel.

In his opening address Saturday at the Congress for Cuba's ruling
Communist Party, Raúl Castro said politicians should be limited
to two five-year terms. He gave few details of the restrictions.

The 1,000 delegates at the gathering, the party's first Congress in
nearly 14 years, are expected to approve economic reforms proposed by
Raúl Castro.

The four-day gathering also could serve to introduce a new generation
of Cuban officials to replace the country's rulers for the last
half-century, 79-year-old Raul and the ailing Fidel Castro, now 84.

Earlier Saturday, thousands of Cuban military personnel and civilians
staged a parade to salute the 50th anniversary of Cuba's victory over
the United States at the Bay of Pigs, and the nation's declaration of
socialism.

As Raúl Castro waved and saluted from a reviewing stand, troops
high-stepped through Havana's sprawling Revolution Plaza. Many
flag-waving civilians followed them, and fighter jets roared through
sunny skies.

It was a celebration of key events in the country's past that served as
a prelude to the congress for the ruling Communist Party.

The Bay of Pigs triumph is celebrated in Cuba as a landmark achievement
over its powerful neighbor 145 kilometers to the north. In April
1961, a force of 1,500 CIA-trained Cuban exiles supported by U.S. ships
and planes came ashore at the Bay of Pigs in an effort to spark a
counter-revolution against Fidel Castro's 1959 revolt that overthrew
Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista.

But Fidel Castro rallied thousands of troops and citizens and routed
the Bay of Pigs invaders within three days. It was an
embarrassing defeat for the new administration of then-U.S. president
John F. Kennedy.

There was no sign of Fidel Castro at Saturday's celebration.

World Bank will focus
on food security, hunger

By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services

Global food prices have risen by 36 percent in the past year, according
to figures released this week by the World Bank. The Bank hosted its
spring meetings in Washington this week, where it called on
policymakers to focus on food security. Experts say that for many
developing countries, that means supporting the interests of small
farmers.

Outside the World Bank's headquarters in Washington, D.C., a giant
electronic display is tallying the number of chronically hungry people
in the world today. As the digits tick up toward one billion, the World
Bank is calling on policymakers to put food first.

The
contents of
this page and this Web site are
copyrighted by
Consultantes Río Colorado 2011 and
may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use
are
permitted. Check HERE
for details

Latin
American newsPlease
reload page if feed does not appear promptly

Free Internet jeopardized,
Freedom House study says

Special to A.M. Costa Rica

Cyberattacks, politically motivated censorship, and government control
over Internet infrastructure are among the diverse and growing threats
to internet freedom, according to "Freedom on the Net 2011: A Global
Assessment of Internet and Digital Media," a new study released today
by Freedom House.

These encroachments on Internet freedom come at a time of explosive
growth in the number of Internet users worldwide, which has doubled
over the past five years. Governments are responding to the increased
influence of the new medium by seeking to control online activity,
restricting the free flow of information, and otherwise infringing on
the rights of users, the study said.

“These detailed findings clearly show that Internet freedom cannot be
taken for granted,” said David J. Kramer, executive director of Freedom
House. “Nondemocratic regimes are devoting more attention and resources
to censorship and other forms of interference with online expression.”

"Freedom on the Net 2011," which identifies key trends in internet
freedom in 37 countries, follows a pilot edition that was released in
2009. "Freedom on the Net" evaluates each country based on barriers to
access, limitations on content, and violations of users’ rights.

The study found that Estonia had the greatest degree of Internet
freedom among the countries examined, while the United States ranked
second. Iran received the lowest score in the analysis. Eleven other
countries received a ranking of Not Free, including Belarus, Burma,
China, Cuba, Saudi Arabia, and Thailand. A total of 9 of the 15
countries in the original pilot study registered declines over the past
two years. Conditions in at least half of the newly added countries
similarly indicated a negative trajectory. Crackdowns on bloggers,
increased censorship, and targeted cyberattacks often coincided with
broader political turmoil, including controversial elections.

Countries at Risk:As part of its analysis, Freedom House identified a
number of important countries that are seen as particularly vulnerable
to deterioration in the coming 12 months: Jordan, Russia, Thailand,
Venezuela, and Zimbabwe.

In response to the growing popularity of internet-based applications
like Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, many governments have started
targeting the new platforms as part of their censorship strategies. In
12 of the 37 countries examined, the authorities consistently or
temporarily imposed total bans on these services or their equivalents.

Access to the internet in the United States remains open and free
compared with the rest of the world, the study said. Users face very
few restrictions on their ability to access and publish content online,
and courts have consistently held that prohibitions against government
regulation of speech apply to material published on the Internet.
However, the United States lags behind many major industrialized
countries in terms of broadband penetration and connection speeds, and
the government’s surveillance powers are cause for some concern.

The
contents of
this page and this Web site are
copyrighted by
Consultantes Río Colorado 2011 and
may
not be reproduced anywhere without permission. Abstracts and fair use
are
permitted. Check HERE
for details